Adjustable door actuating device for varying the at rest position



May 9, 1950 w. 0. JAMES 2,507,163

ADJUSTABLE DOOR-ACTUATING DEVICE FOR VARYING THE AT REST POSITION Filed June 5, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l y 950 w. 0. JAMES 2,507,163

ADJUSTABLE DOOR-ACTUATING DEVICE FOR VARYING THE AT REST POSITION Filed June 5, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L .M V i I H; T a 35:; I

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Patented May 9, 1950 UNITED STATES fiiiENT OFFICE Wallace 0. J ames, Jackson, Mich.

Application June 5, 1946, Serial No. 674,545

2 Claims. (Cl. 1649) The present invention relates to improveprovements in door checks and closers being especially adapted to doors which swing in one or both sides of the door frame and capable of holding the door either closed or in any position between fully opened and fully closed.

Fluid door checks and closers which are in extensive use at the present time require frequent maintenance and repair, especially on store and theater doors where they are subjected to excessive use. Moreover, they are of a design which does not readily adapt itself to holding the door in different positions.

According to the present invention, a door check and closer has been provided in which gravity is solely employed to control the movement and position of the door. The mechanism may be conveniently housed in the door structure and adjusted to bring to or hold the door in any desired position.

Thus one of the objects of the invention is to provide an improved control mechanism for doors and the like operated solely by gravity.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved door check and closer under the control of a weight, actuated by the movement of the door, in which the influence of gravity controls the at rest positions of the door.

Another object is to provide an improved door check and closer which is especially adapted for doors which swing to :both sides of the door frame.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a door check and closer which is readily adjustable to hold the door at rest in any desired position between fully open and fully closed.

These and other objects and advantages residing in the combination, arrangement and construction of parts is more fully disclosed in the following specification and the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. I is a top view showing the mechanism installed in a door structure with the cover plate removed,

Fig. II is a side elevational view of the mechanism shown in Fig. I,

Fig. III is a view similar to Fig. II on a reduced scale showing the mechanism mounted in the door,

Fig. IV is a detail of the lower hinge pin of the door,

Fig. V is a view taken on line V-V of Fig. VI of a modified form of the invention,

Fig. VI is a side elevational view of the door shown in broken section of a modified form of the mechanism shown installed, and

Fig. VII is a fragmentary side elevational view of the mechanism shown in Fig. VI with the door open.

Referring to the form of the invention shown in Figs. I to IV, inclusive, the check and closer unit comprises a framework I8, which is mounted between the inner and outer panels of the door, and having side plates [2 and transverse members l4, l8 and I8. In Fig. II one of the side plates [2 has been removed as well as one of the large gears for purposes of illustration.

Mounted for free rotation between the plates I 2 is a shaft 28 having a threaded cross hole 22 in which the arm 24 is received. Mounted on the shaft 28 for free relative rotation are ring gears 26 and 28 which mesh with a pinion 38 mounted on the shaft 32 supported in the member I 4 and carries at its opposite end a bevel gear 34 meshing with a similar gear 36 upon the shaft 38. The shaft 33 terminates at its upper end in a square portion 48 adapted to fit in a similar shaped recess 44 mounted in the door frame 48 and holding the shaft 38 against relative rotation.

To facilitate the installation of the door and to adjust the location of the at rest position of the door, an eccentric adjustment shaft 48 is provided having a screwdriver slot 5!] in an end thereof extending through the outer panel of the door so that the shaft 48 may be rotated. As will be noted from Fig. II, with the gears 34 and 38 meshing, the shaft 38 is resting on the lobe 52 of the shaft 48. Upon rotation of the shaft 48, the spring 54 will lower the shaft 38, bringing the gears 34 and 38 out of mesh and lowering the square end 40 to clear the recess 44 of the door frame 46. Preferably the shaft 48 is so designed that the gears 34 and 3B are brought out of mesh before the end 40 completely clears the socket 44'. Through this arrangement the door may be swung to rotate the shaft 38 relative to the shaft 32 to change the relationship between the gear 36 and the ring gears 26 and 28 to adjust the at rest position of the door as will be more fully disclosed.

Mounted on the inside of the gear 28 is a pin 56 while a similar pin 58 is mounted upon the inside of the gear 28. With the door in its at rest position, the pins 56 and 58 will be in the position indicated in Fig. I, namely, opposed to each other in axial alignment and both jointly supporting the arm 24 which has attached to its outer end a suitable weight 60.

When the door is swung in one direction from its at rest position, depending upon which direction the door is swung, one of the pins 50 and 58 will be moved from the position at indicated in Fig. III, which corresponds to the positions shown in Figs. I and II, into the position b, while the other pin will be moved into the position 0. The pin moved into the position b of Fig. III will elevate the arm 26 from the lower dotted line position into the upper dotted line position. When the door is released to the action of gravity acting upon the weight 60 in its elevated position, the action of the arm 24 will rotate the gears 26 and 28 in opposite directions through engagement with whichever of the pins 56 and 58 has been elevated into the position b and the door will be swung into its at rest position, namely, with both of the pins 55 and 58' brought back into the position a. When the door is swung in the opposite direction, the other of the pins 56 and 58 is moved from the position a to the position b to elevate the weight 50 from the lower dotted line position to the elevated dotted line position shown.

It will be understood through the foreoing description that when the door is in an "at rest position, the arm 24 is engaging with both the pins 56 and 58 and that any movement of the door from its at rest position is opposed by the maximum effectiveness of the weight E0. It will further be appreciated that the at res position of the door may be at any point in its path of movement between fully open and fully closed and this is true regardless of whether the door is swung in only one direction to close or is capable of being swung in two directions as in the case of what is conventionally known as the swinging door.

In Fig. IV, a lower mounting pin constituting a pivot for the door is indicated at 62. The upper end of the pin 52 is provided with a flange 64 against which a spring 66 acts to lift the pin 62 vertically when the eccentric shaft 68, which is supported in the panels of the door, is rotated through the screwdriver slot l formed in one end thereof to permit the door to be taken down. At the time of installation of the door, the eccentric shaft 68 is rotated into the position shown in Fig. IV to project the pin 62 into a supporting socket mounted in the floor in vertical alignment with the recess 44.

In the modification shown in Figs. V to VII, inelusive, the door I2 is of a swinging type shown in its closed position within the door frame 14. The lower part of the door has a thrust plate 76 which rotates in the bearing plate I8 mounted in the door sill 80. The plate 18 has a square hole 82 in which a similarly shaped end 84 of a. rod 86 is inserted to hold the rod 86 against rotation. It is to be understood that the door swings around the axis of the rod. 85. The rod 86 passes through bushing 88 and abuts at its upper end against an eccentric 90 which when rotated out of the position shown will permit the spring 82 acting against the bevel gear 94 to lift the teeth thereof out of engagement with the gear 05. Preferably the construction of the eccentric 90 is such that rotation thereof through approximately'QO" from the position shown in Fig. V1 is sufficient for the teeth of the gear 94 to clear the teeth of the gear 96. This will permit relative rotation between shaft 86 and the shaft 98 upon which the gear 96 is mounted. When the eccentric 90 is rotated through 180 from the position shown in Fig. VI, shaft 85 is moved vertically a sufficient distance 4 for the end 84 to clear the hole in the bearing plate 18 to permit the door to be removed from its mounting structure.

The shaft 98 which is slidably mounted in a bearing provided in the door 12 is tubular at one end and of non-circular interior construction in order to receive with a sliding fit a similarly shaped shaft I00 which telescopes with the shaft 98 and is slidably mounted in a bearing provided in the door I2. The extension I0! of the shaft I60 carries a gear I02 against which a spring I04 acts to force the outer end of the shaft I01 against the eccentric [.06. When the eccentric I06 is rotated from the position shown through 180 by a suitable key inserted into the opening I08 of the shaft H0, the gear I92 will be moved out of mesh with the ring gear I I2 to permit relative movement between the gears I02 and H2.

The gear I I2 is mounted for rotation on a stub shaft H4. Attached to and operating as an integral part of the gear H2 is a sheave IIIS having an opening I I8 through which one end of a flexible cable I20 is extended and anchored. At the opposite end of the cable I20 is a weight I22. As illustrated, the cable I20 passes between a pair of pulleys I24 and I26.

With the door 12 in the closed position shown in Figs. V and VI, the point of anchorage H8 between the cable I29 and the sheave IIIS will be at the bottom as indicated in Fig. VI with the cable I20 hanging straight down from the anchorage I I5. This is the at rest position of the door. If the door is now swung in either direction from the at rest position, the shaft ISO is rotated by the swinging movement, which results in rotation of the gear H2 to wind the cable I29 upon the sheave I It as indicated in Fig. VII. The weight I22 is now in its raised position and is continuously acting to rotate the gear H2 back into the position indicated in Fig. VI. If the door I2 is swung in the opposite direction from that indicated in Fig. VII, it will be understood that the cable I20 will wind up on the opposite side of the sheave I I5 from that illustrated.

To alter the at rest position of the door 72 from its fully closed position shown in Figs. V and VI, it is only necessary to disengage either the gear I02 from the gear H2 or the gear 94 from the gear 95. This may be accomplished by rotating either of the eccentrics 08 01' I06. With the gears 94 or I02 disengaged from their respective meshing gears, by swinging the door i2 from the position shown in Fig. V to any other position and then engaging either of the gears 94 and I02, the at rest position of the door will be at that point in which re-engagement of the gears takes place.

7 It will be understood that swinging the door I2 in either direction will rotate the shaft 85 which through the chain of gearing results in the weight I22 being lifted. Then when the door 12 is released to the energy stored up in the weight 122, it will in turn function to rotate .the gear [[2 and through the chain of gearing swing the door into its at rest position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to-cover by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a door supported for swinging movement in opposite directions from its at rest position, a door actuator structure mounted in said door comprising a fixed part on which the door swings, a first gear fixed on said part, a shaft, a primary gear on said shaft meshing with said first gear, a second gear on said shaft, a pair of opposed gears supported for rotation around a common axis and meshing with opposite sides of said second gear and driven thereby in opposite directions, a weight supported for rotation upon said axis, means upon said opposed gears for selectively engaging said weight to elevate the same upon swinging movements of said door in either direction from its at rest position, said means collectively supporting said Weight in a partially raised position with said door in its at rest position.

2. In the combination defined in claim 1, said fixed part being supported for axial movement, and adjustable means for controlling the axial movement of said fixed part to selectively mesh or disengage said first gear with said primary gear to change the "at rest position of the door.

WALLACE 0. JAMES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

